The Miller Center is a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia that specializes in presidential scholarship, public policy and political history and strives to apply the lessons of history to the nation’s most pressing contemporary governance challenges. more →

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From presidents Carter, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Christina Wolbrecht

Sidney M. Milkis

The outcome of the 2012 presidential election will likely have historic consequences, as the two parties have adopted vastly different plans and policies for the future. Professors Ron Formisano (William T. Bryan Chair of American History at the University of Kentucky), Sid Milkis (director of Democracy & Governance Studies at the Miller Center), and Christina Wolbrecht (associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame) will contrast the two parties' vision for America, and discuss how they have arrived at their policy positions. Looking ahead, therefore, will necessitate looking back, as the 2012 election will be compared to past periods of party development and earlier important elections.

This colloquium is part of the academic conference, "American Political Parties: Past, Present, and Future."